We need to think carefully about what we do, what we put our energy into. If we claim to serve God, and want to avoid deep feelings of hypocrisy, we need to do those things that we are sure God wants us to do. So what is the Christian justification for our daily learning, and what is the Christian justification for our daily work, including our teaching?
Three Biblical principles
Three Biblical principles
Principle 1: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
Principle 1: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
The combination of “whatever” and “everything” in this
verse covers all that we do, including our learning and working.
Certainly Paul thought that we should do our daily work for the Lord,
even the humble work of the slave:
We serve Christ in our daily work, because of Christ’s universal role in the universe.
For in
him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God
was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in
heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians
1:15-20).
Honouring,
praising and serving Christ the creator and sustainer of the universe
needs more emphasis in our thinking and our worship. It is essential
that whatever we do in any area of life, we should do whole-heartedly,
consciously serving the Lord Christ in the action.
Some pastoral comments:
- If we sure that we can serve Christ in doing any action, we should not do it.
- If we sure that we can serve Christ in doing any action, then we should do it intentionally to serve Christ.
- Regarding
thing that we do as “neutral” is dangerous in the long term. If we are
not confident that they serve Christ, then we may more easily do them in
a less than Christian way and they will have the effect of giving us a
deep feeling of hypocrisy, which will have very bad long-term
consequences. This is especially the case if there are some actions that
we do in which we are confident that serve Christ, and other actions in
which we do not have that confidence. It is a particular problem when
we feel that major investments of time and energy don’t serve Christ. - If
we do not intentionally serve Christ in a major life activity, then we
will adopt other sinful motivations, with disastrous consequences.
It
is perhaps relevant that Paul’s advice in debated issues is that
“whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23), and that
when discussing our evangelistic lifestyle, he wrote “So, whether you
eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1
Corinthians 10:31).
We are told in Ecclesiastes, “Whatever your
hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (9:10), and that it is
good and fitting “to find enjoyment in all the toil with which one
toils” (5:18). Even though there is frustration built into all human
activities, “God keeps them occupied (in their toil) with the joy of
their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 5:20).
So, in this context, we need
to be fully confident that God regards learning and working as
activities that Christians should and can do in the name of Christ, for
God’s glory.
[2]
[1] See also John 1:1–5.
[2]
Learning includes life-long learning in every area of life. Working
includes all the work that we do, subsidised, paid, and unpaid, personal
as well as public.
